TEHRAN - The Iranian oil bourse was officially inaugurated on Wednesday, with 600,000 barrels of heavy crude oil being offered for sale on the Kish International Commodity Exchange.

The crude oil stock was offered at the base price of $112.60 per barrel but no dealer was ready to pay above $109.65, so no transactions were carried out.
Iran began offering fuel oil contracts on the oil bourse in April.
“Iran, like other countries, needs to rely on the free market to be competitive,” Ahmad Rezaii, who is an adviser of the Iran Mercantile Exchange director general, said at the opening ceremony.
“We want to put in place a system for the modernization of the exchange and trade of strategic items. Our exchange has these capabilities,” Rezaii added.
Iran, which possesses the world’s second largest gas reserves and third largest oil reserves, is trying to play a more active role in oil and petrochemical transactions in international markets